Live Life Being a Human, not Superman
by xOwlCityx
Summary: Just because your team's been through more than most have seen, doesn't mean you have to be Superman.


**It's a short and sweet to the point one shot between one of my favorite pairings, I think you can guess. It came to me and I had to write it down, no matter how crappy it may be. I apologize for any spelling errors. I don't own CSI.**

Greg stared aimlessly at his television. Somehow this year, seeing the all too famous ball drop was more than significant for the past year, then the previous years he had always watched it. This year, it told him that it was time to let all of the suffering go and actually look forward to what the next year would hold.

There had really been no good, if any, at the beginning. Sara left to be with monkeys in the jungle. If that loss had not been enough for the former lab rat who had spent most of his lab days pining over the brunette, only to have her relationship with their supervisor exposed, another tragedy hit.

Warrick was gunned down and killed. That was probably the most deafening blow to the team. Nick's kidnapping, Sara's kidnapping and even Greg's beating combined couldn't even scratch the surface of what Warrick's death did to the team. Even when Sara had returned briefly to mourn with the family, it didn't fill any holes that had been dug long ago.

Even when Warrick's killer was apprehended, it did little justice eternally for his co-workers; his friends; his family.

Then once again, Sara left. In the midst of a diminishing number of night staff, Ecklie hired a young, Midwestern former police officer to the team.

Riley Adams was a spunky, young woman even though under the circumstances, she couldn't act on it. Even though she was a new worker and team member, said team was hard at first to welcome her, even though they attempted to try as hard as they could through their still lingering grief.

Greg let out a small, lopsided smile as he thought of Riley and how in the midst of unorganized team feelings, she still managed to make him smile. He really hadn't let out a good smile since the beating, but he was able to fool everyone. Everyone except Riley, that is.

_"Ever think about entering Julliard?" Greg raised an eyebrow and moved his concentration to his half downed beer to the blond who seemed to emerge from thin air. She waved her hand to the bartender and motioned towards Greg's drink; he seemed to understand as he refilled Greg's and handing a fresh one to Riley._

_He nodded in a thanking motion and lifted the drink to his lips, gulping down before answering that. "No. Why do you ask?" he stared as she let her hair down from the tight ponytail she always seemed to have it in on shift, save for a few rare times. He never really noticed how soft her hair looked and he gripped his glass, resisting the urge to reach out and twirl a strand between his index and middle finger. Whether or not the temptation was alcohol-induced, Greg wasn't sure of, but he liked it._

_She shrugged, taking her own gulp from the glass and securing her hair tie around her wrist. "You're a good actor, with the fake smile and whatnot." she said, looking at him from the corner of her eye and reveling in the confused look he seemed to give. She answered his silent question with a scoff. "Hello man, child of two shrinks." she pointed to herself with a small chuckle. "It's like I got secondhand psychobabble through my pores." she said._

_Greg rolled his eyes. "You always have an answer for everything, don't you, Sanders?" he snorted, never growing tired of their possibly life saving name swap._

_"I'm right though, aren't I?" _

_Greg spun his bar stool sideways and stared at her as he continued to drink his beer. "I suppose. At least it fooled a few people for a while." he shrugged again and Riley spun her chair around, facing him as he forearm rested on the bar counter._

_"Greg, I want to tell you something and don't interrupt me." she said, giving Greg a knowing look before continuing with a deep breath. "After the case with Humphreys and the Congressman, you stepped forward. Everyone else seemed apprehensive almost to delve into what was wrong. I didn't want to talk about it at the time, but for some reason, I didn't care. I didn't care because for the first time since I joined the team, you made an effort. You've always tried to make me feel welcome and happy to be here, yet I know you're not happy." she said, in a low voice, almost sounding shy and from the short time Greg had known her, she didn't seem shy in the least._

_It was like a light bulb went off in Greg's mind. She was right. He hadn't known if it was her choice of words, the way she said them or once again if it was the alcohol that had opened his mind; but she was right. He finished what was left in his glass and rubbed at his temple with his index and middle fingers, before he spoke._

_"I've kind of been wearing down a little bit every day for the last few years. I thought it was happening slow enough for no one to notice, but," he trailed off with Riley nodded and finishing his sentence._

_"-you were wrong." to which Greg nodded almost ashamed. "Greg." she said, in a tone of voice that caused Greg's eyes to move from the ground to Riley's eyes. "You're allowed to break down. You're allowed to have off-days. Just because your team's been through more than most have seen, doesn't mean you have to be like Superman." she said, doing something that raised Greg's curiosity._

_She took his hand gently in her own. "I should know, because I do the same thing. I've learned that it's human nature to want to be strong and stand tall, but just because it's nature doesn't mean it's required." she said and Greg looked down at their hands, slowly and softly entwining his rough calloused fingers through her smaller soft ones._

_"It's just that, I don't know, Warrick's gone. Sara left again and so did Grissom. It just seems like all my will is gone, you know? It's like if I actually become happy, then something else is going to go wrong. Like, I started to come back after my beating and when I started feeling somewhat good again, Sara got kidnapped and then I found out about her and Griss. As soon as I bounced back from that, she left and Warrick got killed." Greg took a deep breath and continued. "It's like, whenever I'm happy, bad things happen." he said and he felt a hand on his face, apparently wiping a tear that he wasn't even aware had left his eyelid._

_When he looked up, Riley still had one hand in his and the other on his cheek, thumb stroking the warm skin. "I know it's hard, but you have to weather through it. No matter what you may think, someone will always be there. You have your family, you have your work family. You have me." she whispered the last part, a smile creeping onto her face, almost mirroring the one that was slowly emerging on Greg's face. _

_He let out a awkward chuckle, reaching his other hand to the skin above Riley's eye. "Shouldn't I be the one comforting you?" he said, stroking the bruising skin. "I mean, you were taken hostage by a kid." he snorted, thinking of how he should have been consoling her instead of the flip side._

_Riley smiled. "Nah, I'm a big girl." she said, about to open her mouth to say something else, but didn't have time to, feeling warm lips against her own._

_Greg didn't know what possessed him to do it. But, when his lips touched hers, it was like someone had put the defibrillator to his chest and jolted him. All he knew was that he had felt much more active now than he had before Riley had walked into the bar, interrupting Greg's wallowing sorrow._

A hand on his cheek had brought him out of the ever-repeated memory in his mind. He turned his head towards the owner of said hand.

Riley's light eyes almost seemed to twinkle in the light of the television, seeing as it was the only light being offered in the living room they both occupied. As he listened to television, rather than watching at the moment, he heard the all too familiar countdown to the new year.

When the numbers descended to one, Greg leaned over and pressed his lips to Riley's to which she gladly offered and reciprocated. Her hands had idly made their way to his and they linked softly. As they pulled away, two goofy smiles faced each other.

"Happy New Year." Riley said, kissing the tip of Greg's nose.

Laughing, Greg raised Riley's hand to his mouth, kissing the palm and fingering the small object that rested around her third finger. "Happy New Year, future Mrs. Sanders."

**I know it was really corny and possibly rubbish, but like I said; it came to me out of thin air and wouldn't leave my head until I typed it up. Comments are love; but I don't like flames. Flames suck. To some of you, constructive criticism is not a flame :)  
**


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